Marshmallows As Weapons
by Pheasant Plucker
Summary: NCIS sleepover means OOC PWP slash, right? Normally. However, enter Ducky and Abby! Cue giggling, projectile marshmallows, popcorn, gossip, horror movies, secrets, sleeping bags, confessions and the possibility of a pillow fight using Burt the Farting Hippo. Because that's what real sleepovers are all about! Well, that and innocent exploration of course. We couldn't leave that out.
1. Chapter 1

Abby was sleeping when the storm hit. The thunder woke her up, and she lay contentedly listening to the rain outside. She quickly fell back to sleep, not realizing that anything was out of the ordinary.

At 5am, it was significantly more obvious. The room was freezing. It was nearly winter and the heat had gone out before, she just hoped it'd be back by the time she was. She got up and went to make coffee, but coffee did not want to be made. It wasn't just the heat, the power was off. She looked out the window, the power was off in the whole street, no lights anywhere. Not a good sign. Given the storm, and the whole street being out, she quickly packed an overnight bag and went to work. If there was heat there, she'd sleep there.

Abby put the radio on in the car. It seemed the storm that had disturbed her sleep and her heat had done far more. There were trees over roads, several houses had lost a roof or more and half the state seemed to be staying with relatives. She thought of dogs, of all things. Dogs don't like storms, fences come down, dogs get lost, dogs get out. She drove very carefully, looking for lost dogs and just hoped that NCIS had survived intact. If it had, she would.

Abby arrived at work early, finding it full of warmth, light, breakfast and CafPow. That was enough to make it a good day.

* * *

Palmer was not having such a good day. His older and wiser mentor was nowhere to be found. He'd often hoped for such a situation, a few hours free of long stories, hypothetical questions and very gentle intimidation seemed like a wonderful thing. But somehow as soon as Dr Mallard wasn't there, everything suddenly became big and scary, every single time. Mostly because he was never sure if he'd be told off more for action or for inaction.

When Ducky finally arrived, he seemed to be having a significantly worse day. He showed up with a bag over his shoulder and an impatient expression. It was at that moment that Palmer realized it wouldn't have mattered what he'd done, and that an hour of anxiety had been wasted.

Abby was waiting for her babies to spit out results, there wasn't much else she could do, so she decided that a trip to autopsy might be in order. Luckily Ducky was feeling slightly improved by the time Abby arrived in the basement.

"Jimmy! What's crackin' down here?"

"Abby! It's um... There's..."

"Please pay attention to what you're doing, Mr Palmer!"

"Sorry Doctor!"

"Hey... Ducky, what's got you all grumpy? Abby asked sweetly.

"A tree fell on my roof last night. The house will be uninhabitable for several days, and Mr Palmer isn't concentrating."

"Aww, don't blame Jimmy! You could stay in my lab, that's what I'm doing, my power got knocked out, so I'm heating the office and getting marshmallows and a movie and popcorn! We could have a slumber party!"

"I might just take you up on that" he said, smiling for the first time that day. Abby's exuberance was hard to avoid, it rubbed off.

* * *

Abby was happy to have the chance to work into the night, she got everything done and more before Ducky arrived in the lab, well after everyone had gone home.

"You're late!" She said, playfully crossing her arms and pouting.

"Actually, I thought I might sleep in my office..."

"It's cold and full of dead people down there, and we're having a sleepover, remember!"

"I can't really argue with that..."

"Don't" she said with a smirk, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Abby's futon was set up in the far left corner of the office and the computer screen had been turned to face it. Ducky had brought a sleeping bag and an old roll up camp bed, having planned to sleep in his office, he set them up in the right corner while Abby played with the computer. As soon as he'd finished, Abby threw a marshmallow at him.

"Come sit down, the movie's ready to go"

He gladly sat beside her.

"What are we watching, my dear?" He had no idea what to expect, but if he had, it would have been this.

"It's the best Daddy/Daughter movie ever!"

"...The Parent Trap?"

"...No. It's an epic Greek tragedy set in a dystopian future in a society with legalized organ repossession!" Her pretty eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "And it's a rock opera! You'll love it!"

Strangely enough, he did. They sat side by side sharing popcorn and marshmallows giggling at the tomato sauce violence.

By the end of the film he was lying comfortably on Abby's pillow, with her curled up in front of him. Ten minutes later, he was asleep. Abby got up quietly, turned off the computer and, after standing there with her hands on her hips for a moment, decided to just take Ducky's bed. It was a lot less comfortable than her futon, but she reasoned that she was used to sleeping in a coffin, and she was twenty years younger, she could let him have the comfy bed for the night. She lay back and listened to the rain.

* * *

Ducky woke to see Abby lying on his bed, reading.

"Long was I asleep?"

"Like... Half an hour"

He moved to get up.

"No, stay there, I'm comfy. Enjoy the warmth while you can, the power went out a few minutes ago, if it doesn't come back on, it's gonna be freezing tonight. Back up's going, but it doesn't do heat"

"Well, I suppose it's better than being at home with roof tiles falling on my head" he said cheerfully, lying down and staring at the ceiling.

A flying marshmallow hit him in the face. He couldn't help thinking it was rather a good shot, considering the distance.

"Hey Ducky! Do you wanna play sleepover games?"

His mind reeled in several interesting directions before he answered.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well... Truth or dare's out, not enough people. I'm not subjecting Bert to a pillow fight, hilarious as that would be. I don't think you need a make over... Do you like ghost stories? Wait! Stupid question! There's this game I came up with when I was a teenager..."

Again Ducky's mind went south before being quickly retrieved and scolded.

"It's really easy, I get to ask you any question, and you don't have to answer, but if you do, you have to tell the truth, and if you choose to answer, I have to answer the same question."

"That seems simple enough"

"It always does!" She answered with a smirk. "I'll start! ...Hmm... How old we're you when you had your first kiss?"

"Sixteen" he answered without hesitation.

It was hard to see Abby blush in the low light but he caught it.

"Twelve" she said with a little giggle. "Your turn!"

He thought for a while then finally said "What was your very first career choice, when you were a little child?"

"A vet at a zoo, you?"

"A pilot"

"A pilot? I can't... No, wait, I can see that, with the leather helmet and the goggles... Yeah, I can see you doing that, that'd be adorable! Did you ever do anything like that?"

"No. It would never have actually suited me, I just liked the idea... Biggles and all that."

"That's so cute! Okay, my turn! What did you think when you first met me? ...Honesty, remember!"

"I thought you were much too young and pretty to be a forensic scientist."

"An I thought you were too old an sweet to cut open murdered people all day! My turn! Do you really like your job?"

"I do actually, it's endlessly interesting."

Abby smiled "Same here"

There was a humming noise and the security lights outside flickered, the power was back on, they wouldn't freeze.

Abby grinned and narrowed her eyes "who was the last girl you kissed?"

"Maryanne Thomson" at her questioning look, he continued "a friend of a friend, I went on a date with her a few months ago. It didn't work out particularly well"

"But you still kissed her?"

"Perhaps she kissed me" He raised an eyebrow "...Now you have to answer" he said with an evil little glint in his eyes.

"Well I..." At was only then that she realized what she'd actually asked. "Wait, that's not fair!

"It is, you laid out the rules, and you..." He was cut off.

"Kate, it was Kate. Just once."

"Oh... I see"

"Yeah. Um... Your turn?"

He felt the need to lighten the mood, and he was getting bolder.

"Have you ever taken a day off work, just to stay in bed with someone?"

"No" she answered proudly.

"Nor have I... But I've always meant to. I will one day."

"Okay, you got a dirty question, I get a dirty question!" She screwed up her mouth and looked at the ceiling, not so much thinking of a question, but wondering how much she could get away with. "If you could have anyone in the world right now, who would it be?"

He genuinely thought about it for a moment, then said "pass"

"Aww, but then I don't get to tell you mine!"

"Oh, I'm sure you could tell me anyway."

She looked at the floor "...Alan Rickman"

Ducky laughed "He's my age! He could be your father!" Abby pouted, so he continued "but I commend your good taste"

They played their game well into the night and only went to sleep when neither of them could keep their eyes open.


	2. Chapter 2 - In Trouble

Thank you for your feedback. I'm basing this around a concept I read recently, I found it so adorable and found myself really surprisingly... Excited. In the end I decided that there was more potential then just a smutty PWP, so this will continue to be ridiculously fluffy, but the rating will be changing!

* * *

Ducky woke early, dressed and left Abby sleeping across the room. He glanced and her and smiled before he walked out. He thought he'd known her well, now he felt like they'd only really spoken for the first time last night. He was very glad they had.

Abby went home at lunch time and picked up some more clothes, kigurumi pajamas, a few DVDs and some more popcorn. On the way back, as an afterthought, she stopped at the shops and bought several packets of marshmallows. She was looking forward to the evening ahead.

* * *

Abby changed into her big floppy black cat onsie before even turning off her equipment. When Ducky arrived, she was bouncing around, turning off her machines, to some particularly cheerful goth metal in a cartoon animal suit with bare feet, while he was leaning on the door frame with his hands in his pockets, in a suit with a bow tie. Night and day. When she finally noticed him she turned down the music.

"Hey Ducky!" She ran up and hugged him.

"I brought you a present" He pulled something out from behind his back. A bag of big pink marshmallows.

Without saying anything, she turned around, ran into her office and pulled something off the desk. She held up three bags of marshmallows, then threw one at him. Hilarity ensued.

A few minutes later Abby was standing in the lab with her back to the office, arms folded, tapping her foot, waiting for him to finish changing. She had expected to be called, tapped on the shoulder maybe. She did not expect a whole packet of marshmallows in the back of the head. She gasped and spun around, picked it up and ran for him. In that time, he'd prepared with another one. An energetic pillow fight broke out, using bags of marshmallows. When a bag exploded over the futon, they collapsed onto it in laughter, both intentionally landing a respectable distance from the other. Ducky grabbed Abby, pulled her to him with both arms and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for making me feel so young."

"Tonight, you're making _me_ feel young!"

He had to admit, this was fairly ridiculous behavior, even for Abby.

They sat back against the wall, one of his arms still around her. After last night, it all just seemed so normal, as if they did this all the time. Normal except for one thing, the goings on in Abby's mind.

_It's just 'cause we're sitting so close, it doesn't MEAN anything. I always get the urge to do stupid things when I'm this close to someone, well, someone male, well, someone male and attractive... Wait, I didn't just think that. It's just 'cause I'm all puffed out and we've been having fun... Mmmm... No! I'm so moving to the other bed now... Soon... Later... Oh, man, he smells really nice. Wait! No! Crap. How long have i been thinking like this? How did I not notice this earlier?_

Ducky's mind was calmer, but possibly only because he _had_ noticed earlier_. _

_This is as close as I'll get... Closer than what I'd decided, but there couldn't be any harm in it. Surely. I know where to stop, and I will. God, she's beautiful. She's so much more distracting after last night. I thought she was amazing before. I almost don't know what I saw in her, now that I see so much more. She's closer to perfect than anything I thought could truly exist. ...I'm in trouble.  
_


	3. Chapter 3 - Regrets

Abby had finally managed to pull herself away and again, was settled on Ducky's bed. She hadn't trusted herself to stay where she was, and she certainly didn't want to kick him off the futon. Moving seemed like the best option. It had been raining all day, but the storm had passed, all that was left was a few gusts of wind and the heavy rain.

"Hey Ducky, wanna play that game again?"

"Of course. Are you sure you wouldn't like your bed back?"

"That counts as your question! Yes, I'm sure."

"As am I."

"So… Ducky? Why are you single?"

"I'm not sure that has a simple answer, or indeed any answer."

"Of course it does!"

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, so she set out to prove it.

"Seriously! Gibbs is single because he's terrible at managing relationships, Tim's single 'cause he doesn't realise he's hot, Jimmy's single 'cause he's twelve years old, Director Shepherd's single 'cause she wants Gibbs, an Tony an Ziva… By the time they grew out of being a commitment phobic playboy an a mindless killing machine, they were already in love with each other, an now they don't know what to do about it." She sat back, smiling proudly.

"I see. And me?"

"You're still single 'cause you won't settle for anything less than perfect… an I think you have a little of Timmy's problem."

"And what about you, my dear?"

"I used to date psychopaths because I was scared of commitment an becoming all normal an having an SUV. Now I've decided that's not a good idea… And I haven't quite worked out what is."

"I see…" He really was impressed, he wasn't quite sure what to say. She was always full of crazy theories and paragraph long sentences without breaths, but he'd never really stopped to think about them. Her theories were always crazy, but perhaps they were also correct.

"Hey! I didn't have to answer about me, you didn't!" she threw a stray marshmallow at him "My turn again! What kind of gi… wo… member of your preferred gender… do you go for?" she was determined not to get caught again.

"Hmm…" He thought for a moment "intelligent, professional…" he stopped and thought again "generally in a suit… Often blonde"

"Okay… confident, caring, generally dark hair, often with tats. Your turn!"

As the conversation went on, Abby snuggled down into the bed which seemed to be hers for the night, and Ducky did the same. Abby couldn't remember when she'd last had such an enjoyable evening with pants on, well, with a cartoon animal suit on, but in some ways, it's even harder to compete with that. She lay chatting in the darkness feeling warm and contented, glad that her power had gone out, although she wouldn't admit it. The conversation was intimate without being suggestive, it all just felt so comfortable. Abby didn't really notice as her hands slowly started to wander over her own body, gently feeling her own skin.

"Ducky, what do you regret doing?"

"I've only ever regretted what I haven't done"

"Same!" She grinned in the dark thinking _Oohh, I'm gonna regret not doing not doing this… but not as much as I'd regret ruining everything. Maybe I only regret things I didn't do 'cause I never doing anything this stupid. _She made no move to get up, but she considered it, then fought the urge.

Ducky heard her breathing change. He tried to ignore it, he tried not to let it affect his own. He felt guilty. For half an hour he'd been lying there, quietly fighting his body. Every few minutes, he'd realize where his hand was, and what it was doing, very slowly, very gently, but undeniably. And he'd quickly remove it, and put it somewhere sensible, but it never lasted.


	4. Chapter 4 - Could We Share?

Abby was happily, softly playing their game, not really thinking about what she was doing. Their conversation was sweet, intimate and contented, and the gentle stroking over her soft hand just didn't feel out of place. Until she thought about it.

_He couldn't possibly see or hear it… Oh, wow, what if he did? This is hinky, I shouldn't be doing this. He'd freak out if he knew, he'd have every right to freak out. I should stop. …But there's no way he could know. Hey, I wouldn't know if he was… wow, imagine if he was… No! Can't think that and keep breathing normally! Totally stopping._

She didn't.

Eventually, after a few ghost stories, they both fell asleep. Surprisingly, Ducky had some brilliant ghost stories. Not the urban legend kind, of which Abby had plenty, but the "I remember a time when some boys at boarding school…" kind and the "They say the ghost of Anne Boleyn walks…" kind. Even after all that, they both slept soundly.

* * *

Ducky was lying still but awake, curled up in the cold. It was probably early morning, he wasn't sure, but he was sure that the heat had been out for several hours. He could hear Abby tossing and turning across the room.

"Abby… Are you awake?" He whispered.

"Yes" She said pitifully "It's freezing!"

They lay in the cold for a few minutes before Abby finally gathered her courage.

"Um… Ducky… Could we share?"

"Of course, my dear" He hadn't expected her to even ask, he thought she'd come over. Well, he'd hoped.

Abby opened out the sleeping bag and pulled it and the blanket around her before crossing the room. She carefully added the covers on top of the ones on the futon, then quickly dived underneath.

"Oh, You're so cold! You should have come over here earlier." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, she snuggled into his chest, shivering.

"I slept here to keep warm, but this is no better than home!"

"Oh, I think the company's better"

"I didn't mean…! It's… Yeah, I take it back, this is a lot better." To prove her point, she looked up to find something not covered by pyjamas, and kissed his neck. Then she set about silently convincing herself that it had been 100% platonic, and that he'd feel the same.

As they lay in contented silence, he gently ran his hand up and down her back. He'd started in the hope of warming her more quickly, he avoided thinking about why he continued. Once Abby warmed up a little, she moved up to get comfortable on the pillow. They lay facing each other on one pillow, arms still wrapped around each other, both secretly fighting so hard, both outwardly relaxed and contented.

"Hey Ducky… It's a sleepover… We should tell secrets." She whispered

"What would you like me to tell you?" He was open, willing, in that moment, lying together on the floor in the corner of her office, rain pelting down outside, he would have told her anything.

"Tell me… Your most... recent secret" she closed her eyes and hoped.

He smiled, thought for a moment, then finally decided to tell her the truth. They were so close, and they were the only ones in the room, but he still leaned in and whispered in her ear "My roof was repaired yesterday"

She gasped then confessed "when I went back to my apartment, the power was on." There was a silent pause before she whispered "I think it's your turn"

His heart raced, he pulled her closer and, nose to nose, he whispered "I only just realised I love you"

She pulled him into a soft, gentle kiss, then said "I always loved you, I only just realized _how_"

* * *

_Feedback in very welcome, thank you._


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